Preventing Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Artifacts
Since its founding, UNESCO has worked continously to enact a series of legal measures to combat the illicit traffic of cultural material.
Standard-setting has been one of UNESCO’s central missions since its inception. UNESCO’s cultural action to prevent illicit traffic of cultural objects and protect monuments and sites rests on a specific legal foundation:
- The 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, with its two Protocols of 1954 and 1999;
- The 1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property;
- The 1972 Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage;
- The 1995 UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally exported Cultural Objects
- The 1999 international fund for the return and restitution of cultural property, launched by UNESCO
- Resolution 1483, adopted by UN Security Council in 2003